Luke, though I think the lockdowns did work to infect fewer people, for some time i’ve found myself in agreement with you and Tim about the greater damage they’ve done in other ways.
Shawna, I wouldn’t write as if what's going on now is a world-wide black plague, guaranteed-death-level pandemic. Though it is that to the doctors and nurses on the front line. i’d focus more on the freedom aspect.
In any case, I would not go into detail. IF I used it, I would have the characters arrive on Earth, in India, and the next evening they hear Prime Minister Modi announce India is on lockdown.
Meanwhile they have spent the day watching TV.
Again I would not detail everything. It would go like this:
Kaya lifted glazed eyes from the TV. “People are fighting over toilet paper? And white people tell us we’re too uncivilized to rule ourselves?”
“They don't say that in my world,” I said. “Not out loud, anyway.”
Devika shook her head, bemused. “Ignorance crosses universes. Even in your world, white people don’t know water cleans better than paper.”
“I grew up in India, so I do know that.” I was anxious to assure my new friends my butt wasn’t suspect.
“You wanted to live safe,” Nikhil said to Kaya. “This is Castor’s idea of a safe world. This is his idea of living free. A world where governments force people to hide in their homes. We escaped one dungeon to enter this.”
So now Covid-19 was my fault too? So what else was new? Clearly our detente was already over.
“In fairness to Castor, most people didn't take this seriously until now,” said Mom. “But yes, being imprisoned in one’s own house is taking a toll on people’s mental health and emotional well-being. A friend of mine in the US told me she has recurring dreams of trying to escape her fourth-floor apartment through a window.”
“Your world has gone mad,” said Nikhil. “People have exchanged freedom for safety. I would rather fight a foe in the real world than hide in a lunatic asylum.”
“You can’t fight if you’re dead,” said Kaya. “As long as we stay indoors, this world is still safer.”
“I would rather be dead than trapped,” said His Haughty Highness.
***
that’s how it would go. What do you think of it? As you can see, i’m focusing more on the freedom versus imprisonment aspect than the virus being a sure killer of all.
It would be boring to list all that happened, so I just indicate it with the above exchange. Focusing on character reactions rather than the virus itself, which is way too dreary for me to write about.